Fenton Lake

Bert and Nellie (Knight) Sutton

Nellie Gertrude Knight was the daughter of William and Minerva Fatima (Joslin) Knight. Minerva was my 2nd great-grandaunt. Obituaries and tombstone photos were obtained September 10, .. on a visit to Iola, Allen County, Kansas.

Nellie Knight was born on December 22, 1879 near Great Bend, Barton County, Kansas. According to Barton County marriage records, She was married on July 13, 1897 to Bert Alva Sutton. The photo below is a scanned image that I received from one of my distant Joslin cousins. It was labeled Nellie and Bert Sutton, and is presumed to be their wedding photo.


Nellie's obituary, published on July 28, 1947 in the Iola Register [Allen County, Kansas] states that she moved to Iola in 1907 with her husband. At the time of her death, just two weeks after celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, they were residing at 201 N. Sycamore Street. It also gave the names of two daughters that survived her.

As often happens, the obituary for the husband contains much more information. Published on February 17, 1964 in the Iola Register.

Bert Alvie Sutton, 90, resident of Iola since 1907, died at his home at 605 North Washington Saturday afternoon after a prolonged illness. He had been seriously ill for more than two months.

Mr. Sutton was born in Princeton, Mo., Sept. 25, 1873, the son of William Turner and Berthena Wall Sutton. He was married to Nellie Gertrude Knight in El Dorado in 1897. She died in 1947.

Three children were born to this union, Mrs. Hazel Sailing of Long Beach, Calif., Harmon Sutton, deceased, and Mrs. Helen Curtis of Wichita. Eight grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren survive.

Mr. Sutton was twice married. On Aug. 6, 1949 he was married to Eula Geniva High of Ottawa, of the home, who survives, known to her husband, relatives and friends as Polly. He had one step-daughter, Mrs. Ann Melton of Ventura, Calif.

Mr. Sutton grew to manhood on a farm (part of sentence is illegible). He worked for the Frisco Railroad for seven and a half years. He came to Iola in 1907 and was employed by T. B. Shannon Hardware. Then he went into business for himself and operated the Iola Plumbing Co. for 38 years, retiring in November 1948.

Mr. Sutton was a member of the First Christian Church, the Chamber of Commerce for many years, and the Iola Lions and Elks clubs. He was a long-time member of the Kansas Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Association and held an honorary membership in that association from the time of his retirement.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Tomorrow at the First Christian Church with the Rev. Chester Werbin officiating. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery. The Waugh Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

The Sutton family plot in Highland Cemetery, Iola, Kansas.

BERT ALVA SUTTON
SEPT. 25, 1873
FEB. 15, 1964

NELLIE G.
WIFE OF B. A. SUTTON
1880 - 1947

Three children were born to Bert and Nellie (Knight) Sutton:

1. Hazel Marie Sutton was born March 2, 1896 and married Mr. Saling. She lived in Long Beach, California when her mother died in 1947 and in 1964 when her father died.

2. Harmon Harold Knight Sutton was born April 2, 1902 and died March 24, 1945 in Compton, California. A future post will provide some additional information on Harmon and his family.

3. Helen Juanita Sutton was born November 29, 1910 in Iola, Kansas and died December 19, 1984 in Wichita, Kansas. She was married in 1933 to Gerald Leon Curtis (1910-1982) and had three children: Judith, Ronald, and Gary.

TV test

Overheard at the doctor's office: "I'm just here to check the results of my TV test."

I'm sure she really said TB test, but wouldn't it be great if there really were a TV test?

"Your total TV is 283, which is much too high. We'd like to keep your total TV at 200 or below. Your ETV (good TV) level is 49, which is in the normal range. But it wouldn't hurt to increase your documentary consumption. Your TTV (bad TV), at 191, is much too high. You should cut back on soap operas, sitcoms, and reality shows. And get more exercise."

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ETV = educational TV = "good TV"
TTV = trash TV = "bad TV"

Thomas Keller Oreos

Thomas Keller Oreos, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Here's a cookie that will knock most peoples' socks off: the Thomas Keller Oreo, or TKO.

Mr. Keller, the world-famous chef who owns the French Laundry restaurant, came up with his own interpretation of the Oreo, and his recipe has made it into the public.

These cookies are really good: the cookie part is actually chocolatey, with a buttery, crumbly, slightly crispy, melt-in-your-mouth texture. The filling really is a white chocolate cream filling, not some artificial concoction.

Easy to make and wonderful to eat, they're worth a try. The recipe is posted below (I got it from http://curiouslyravenous.blogspot.com/, where it was in turn taken from the cookbook The Essence of Chocolate, by Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger.

Thomas Keller Oreos (TKO's)

From The Essence of Chocolate
Makes about 3 dozen sandwich cookies.

Cookies:
1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar – *I would use 1.5 more tablespoons*
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
15 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3/4" cubes, at room temperature – *I used 1 more tbsp.*

Filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz. white chocolate, chopped

1. For the Filling: In a small pan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute, then whisk to melt the chocolate until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, and let stand for 6 hours to thicken up.

2. For the Cookies: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low speed. With the mixer running, add the butter, a piece at a time. The mixture will be dry and sandy at first, but over 2 minutes, will form pebble-size pieces that start to cling together. Stop the mixer and transfer the dough to your board.

3. Preheat oven to 350° F (300° F in our too-hot oven). Separate dough into 2 pieces. Roll each piece of dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper to 1/8" inch thick. Using a fluted cutter, cut into rounds. Scraps can be pieced together and rolled out again. Place 1/2" apart on baking sheets lined with Silpat liners or parchment paper.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. Remove and cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Cool completely.

5. To Assemble: Lightly whip the white chocolate cream to aerate and fluff up. Transfer filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4" plain tip. Pipe about 1 1/2 tsp in the center of half the cookies. Top with another cookie to sandwich. Gently press down until the cream comes to the edges.

6. Cookies can be stored in a container for up to 3 days. Loosely cover.

Obtained from:

http://curiouslyravenous.blogspot.com/2007/12/tkos-thomas-keller-oreos.html

Sunset through the trees

November 8, ..Versailles State Park, Versailles, Indiana

Summer Snowfall and Slush Cup

What do you get when you combine an unsatiable hunger for ski and snowboard "turns all year" (TAY), a slushy snow slope, a pond and some folks dressed up to the nines in costumes resembling some of Stan Lee's worst superhero nightmares? Give up?...You get the 6th annual Snow Cup! Last Sunday, skiers and boarders gathered on Pinnacle Peak to enjoy some of the last remainders of the summer snow atop Pinnacle Peak, then skiing or boarding down the slope into the waiting pond below (Brrr...)

The TAY enthusiasts will be excited to know that this week's stormy weather (though a disappointment for those climbers stuck on the mountain) brought plenty of fresh snow to the upper mountain, coating the routes and improving conditions for more summer climbing and turns. We heard that it snowed about 6 inches up at Camp Muir, and the wind created snowdrifts almost a foot high in spots! Rangers climbing up Disappointment Cleaver on Friday morning report that climbing the cleaver was much easier than it has been over the past few weeks, and the DC remains in great condition.

Slush Cup was a lively event once again - those folks throw quite a party! Participants almost equaled their spectators, and even the climbers perched atop Castle Peak enjoyed the entertainment, as the costumed skiers and boarders skimmed across the tarn at the base of Pinnacle. Afterwards, the crowd gathered at Reflection Lakes for a tailgate party, feeding skiers and hungry tourists alike.

The TAY crew searches out the best that Mount Rainier has to offer, hitting its creamy white slopes every month of the year. The best part of the whole event - they leave nary a trace of being there. They display love and appreciation for the Mountain and respect for the Park...well done! We look forward to the 7th annual event and will keep our eyes open for the invite next time.

Glacier National Park :: A Visit With Jack Frost

Tuesday, September 20th - - We drove as far as we could from the east side on the Going to the Sun Highway – to Logan Pass. The highway had closed for the season at midnight on Sunday the 18th; not because of the weather but so that construction crews could work on the road.





On the way up to Logan Pass. Can you see several waterfalls toward the center of the picture? They can be seen if you double-click on the image for a larger version...





Clements Mountain and the beginning of the trail to Hidden Lake.

We walked a (very) short distance on the Hidden Lake Trail... The snow that I encountered in July of last year was no where to be seen, but I think there will be plenty of snow very soon!





In one section of trail, wildflowers blanketed the meadow.

We decided to walk a ways along the Highline Trail. Even though it was late in the morning there were traces of frost on the trails in the shaded areas, especially along the first portion of the Highline Trail. (As always, double-click on the image to see a larger version.)













Perhaps it was a good thing that the Going to the Sun Road was closed since the valley below was covered with fog.





You can see a little of the Going to the Sun Road on the right side of the above photo, just to the right and above the top of the fog.





Since the “season” was over, work crews had removed the chains along this section of the trail, parts of which are very narrow with a rather long fall if one should happen to slip! Crews were working on the trail around that far bend and we were reluctant to attempt to pass by them so we returned the way we came. After a short break for lunch, sitting in the glorious sunshine and taking in the awesome views, we went to the 'Many Glaciers' area further north in the park.

Dragontail Peak Backbone Ridge ..

Matt and I had talked early in the year about getting out and doing an alpine climb. Some grand ideas were tossed around until we landed on the Backbone Ridge with Fin Direct on Dragontail Peak. This was a route we could do in a day which was all I really had available for a climb.



We had worked out some logistics, but Matt and I had never climbed outdoors before with each other. Our calculations put us at 16 hours car to car which we felt good about for the trip. So we headed out the night before and slept in the car with a wake up time of 4am.



We hit the trail at 5am right behind a mountain goat and followed him to the first creek crossing. We were making good time to the lake when we stopped for a break at the one hour mark. We were off again and hit the far end of the lake and went around it a bit before ascending to the moraine. This turned out to be a bit longer and more time consuming than heading straight up the moraine from the corner of the lake. At the time we thought nothing of it, but looking down from the route later it was obvious to me that the way we had chosen was longer and not necessarily less difficult.









We got to the top of the moraine and that is where the difficulties arose. Crossing the snow was easy with a fair amount of sun cups. I took the lead in my heavier approach shoes while Matt followed with his trail runners. We took a bit of time to figure out where we should gain the rock and after taking that time made an incorrect decision. We took the highest of three ramps which had a steep start and at one point a tree to climb through. Higher up on the scramble we noticed the nice ledge system below us and worked our way down to easier terrain. Then we were questioning where the route started. A quick look at the route description told us we had to gain 500' of elevation scrambling, so off we went until we got to what we decided was the base of the route.



I geared up for the first pitch and at this time another party caught us and their leader climbed past me leaving me in a position of having to climb under his rope to continue which I did not look forward to. So I waited until their second climbed past, and I remained hot on his heels. I brought Matt up to the belay and we waited for their party to finish the pitch before we started.



Once Matt started the off-width pitch he made steady progress. It didn't look too hard, especially seeing the second from the other team going up it. Matt got to the top and put me on belay. The first moves in were easy enough with some extra cracks and bulges to use for hands and feet. The lower portion of the main crack was also taking a foot jam from me without any real off-width technique being employed. Then I got stuck. I could not make upwards progress. The nubbins for my right foot ran out, and I got in a position where it felt like my right half of my body was useless in getting me up the pitch. I struggled. I grunted. I thrashed. Nothing was working. I yelled up to Matt about the possibility of lowering me back to the bottom of the pitch and hauling the pack. He wasn't into it. I contemplated a lowering and putting the approach shoes back on for the ability to jam the crack. I wasn't going to get lowered. I put a prusik on the rope and tried to pull up a few times. This got me a little progress, but not significant. As I panted and my heart raced, I decided we needed a quicker way and yelled to Matt to set up a haul. He did, but I still had to help him somewhat. So I still thrashed up the route. Every time I would stand up, he would haul rope. I eventually made it to the top and we had a talk.









We had blown lots of time in the approach and the first two pitches. Matt asked if I was up to continuing. I said yes. I told him we could be more efficient, and being there was no more off width, I could run up pitches if he led them. We opted not to rap off at this point, but knew we were setting ourselves up for a significant uphill battle for the rest of the route as we had lost a lot of time. Neither of us wanted to descend Asgard Pass in the dark. We had about eight hours of daylight left to make that happen. We had a brief lunch and continued.



Matt led the next pitch which mostly felt on route, although had quite a bit of lichen on the later part of the pitch. The two of us climbed that third pitch in less than a half hour which lifted our spirits for getting back on track. The next pitch was decidedly off route and took a touch longer, but we were still optimistic about our timing. I led a short pitch and then another to a corner feeling like perhaps we were finally at the pitches we might be able to simul climb. This was untrue as Matt had to climb around a corner and upward still. I fell following that pitch on a lie back roof, which left me further beat up.









Once at the top of that pitch we finally simul climbed. Rope drag slowed us down and I stopped us a bit short of the fin so I could belay Matt in from the shade of a rock. I led up the fin next but also stopped a bit short, although I had most of the rope out. Then we wandered up the ramp system on the fin for two more pitches before Matt saw a ledge system he was willing to conquer. At this point I told him I was too tired to lead and it would be all him if he wanted off the peak without sleeping up there.









This is actually where the nice climbing began. Unfortunately for us, we were too tired and thinking about getting off before sunset to enjoy it. Matt led out on a ramp than turned upward and left to a hand crack with some exposure. (Pretty much the first exposure of the route for us.) He went a touch too far to the other side for the belay, so I set up a belay at the top of the ridge to belay him back up and on his way to the next pitch. Unfortunately during that belay up and out we forgot to transfer gear to him and a bit out on the pitch is where he realized. He down climbed back to the first piece he had in and then hauled the gear up on the rope so he could continue. I followed the pitch which had a crack that widened to off-width. This one was significantly easier. However, having struggled through the previous off width and having been on my feet for the past 15 hours I was done. I didn't have the strength or the reasoning to overcome the problem. I applied a prusik to the rope and yarded up through a few moves before reaching easier ground and a traverse to Matt's position.







We did one last pitch on the fin (total of six pitches on the fin) as we watched the sun set over the mountains to the west. We simul climbed the last of the ridge to the finish where I heard Matt exclaim "we can descend!" as he popped over to the south side and witnessed the full moon over the enchantments. We took our first rest in hours sitting in the glow of the moon while we removed rock shoes and put our approach shoes back on. We left our helmets and harnesses on and put most of the gear away before starting down. I gave Matt the lower portion of my whippet to use as a tool to help get down the snow and we made our way slowly down to Asgard Pass under headlamp and the shine of the moon. We stopped for water on the snowfield briefly and continued down. The snow was soft enough for plunge stepping and we made good time for it being dark and having been up for so long.









We really started to slow down on the way down Asgard Pass as we had to pick our way down trying to stay on the trail. We passed a few people camped out in tents who perhaps underestimated how strenuous it is to get up Asgard before dark.









Back at the lake we lost the trail a bit and wandered through drainages until returning to the trail to hop some boulders back to the other side of the lake. Then it was a relatively uneventful hike out in the darkness for a few hours. We arrived at the car around 3:10 am a full 22 hours after we left it in the morning. Our hope was to drive into town and get some food before returning to Seattle. But as suspected, Leavenworth was all shuttered up and we could not get food. So we drove to the rest area west of town on Highway 2 and slept for a few hours before continuing home.



It was really fun to get out, but this trip highlighted a few concerns about my lack of time in the mountains. One is climbing ability. While I don't know if I would have had an easier time with the off-width if I had been climbing a lot, it would be nice to have at least been ready for the rest of the technical climbing. I don't feel I did as well as I could do on the rest of the route. Of course this could be related to expending a ton of energy attempting to thrash up the off-width and being significantly more tired for the rest of the route something that more climbing would probably not have mitigated. But that brings me to the second concern of conditioning. While I was able to complete the 22 hour long trip, I was slower than I would like at many parts of the trip. (The walk out most notably.) Could I have been faster and less tired if I was doing this every weekend? I'd like to think so, but perhaps nothing really prepares you for 22 hours on your feet? Part of the time while on the climb I was thinking "You're 43 now, and 'off the couch' is not working anymore." While it may be true it is not a good idea to work hard for 22 hours off the couch, I feel more like this was a unique circumstance as I did seem to feel fine until climbing that second pitch.



Oh well. Next trip out might determine just what kind of shape I am in.

Solo

An early-blooming Pacific coast iris.

Nature's Trifecta

Monday, August 29th - -



Water + Clouds + A Setting Sun = A Beautiful Montana Sunset!

More Clouds

Everyday there are these pretty, white, fluffy clouds but no rain. Sometimes we even get the dark, ominous, threatening clouds that give us lots of lightening and thunder but still no rain.

Handmade Bicycles at Interbike

Some say that Interbike and NAHBS (the North American Handmade Bicycle Show) have begun to overlap in the past couple of years, and that was certainly my impression last week. I saw lots of handbuilt bicycles at the show - some familiar, and others by builders whose work I had never seen in person before, which was pretty exciting. But the funny thing was that most of them were being used to display components and accessories, rather than shown off in their own right. I admired an unusual bike by Signal Cycles, only to learn that its purpose was to demonstrate a motorised lift. I examined an unfinished frame, and was grimly told it was used to demo polishing tools. Nonetheless, as a lover of handmade bicycles I took the opportunity to photograph the ones on display and would like to share my favourites.



I could not believe my good fortune when I spotted the Shelly Horton mixte by Bilenky Cycles. Made for a collector, this mixte has an interesting story.



The mixte was part of a Phil Wood display, featuring their stunning custom crankset, bottom bracket, hub shells (housing Rohloff guts in the rear and Schmidt dyno up front), cogs, toe cages, etc. - all made as one-offs especially for this bicycle.



The custom Italian wheel rims feature actual wooden inlays. Pretty much every part of this bicycle is a one of a kind.



And then, of course, there is the art-deco inspired lugwork.



Though I would not choose this colour scheme for myself, it works well to set off the intricate lugs.



Custom stem, lugged and painted to match the frame.



Seat cluster. And notice the Columbus "Donna" decal.



What do you think, would you ride this bike to the grocery store? Having read all about the Shelly Horton mixte, but never expecting to see it in person, finding it at Interbike was a wonderful surprise.



But now for something completely different, allow me to introduce "the pencil bike."



On display at the Kryptonite booth, this is a lugged wooden bicycle made by Sylvan Cycles. I cannot help but think of it as "the pencil bike," because - well, the faceted wooden tubes resemble pencils. It's a good thing; I think the bicycle looks friendly and approachable.



The Townaround is their hub-geared city bike model with upright handlebars.



Having briefly written about Sylvan Cycles earlier, it was a real treat to see one in person. It looks great and I understand the frames are very durable: One of their bikes was apparently ridden in the D2R2!



Close-up of the stainless lug sleeves. The tubes are maple.



One of the interesting things about this model is that it is a belt drive, which I would love to try in of itself.



The curved chainstays are elegant, almost delicate-looking.



And the socketed drop-outs are just beautiful as well.



Will it fit fenders?



From the faceted maple frame to the belt drivetrain, the Igleheart fork and the handlebar setup, I like everything about the way this bicycle is built up. Maybe some day a shop in Boston will carry a demo model. And I would love to see people riding them on the streets.



Finally, I would like to tell you about this bicycle at the Ritte booth. It is a handbuilt trackbike by framebuilder Megan Dean (Moth Attack!), and she made it for her boyfriend, Jack Lindquist.



Megan and Jack are from LA and I met them at Cross Vegas the previous night (yes, I went to a cyclocross race!), where they were introduced to me as a framebuilder and a track racer. They are both so modest and low-key, that I was imagining something small scale (to be fair, half the cyclists I meet in Boston either race or build frames at least on occasion). In fact, Jack is a sprinter for Ritte Racing and Megan builds bicycles that crowds gather around in worshipful swarms.



I mean jeez. When I heard that "Megan's frame is in the show, you should see it!" this was not what I pictured. This thing gave out a glow and energy that rendered spectators speechless. There were so many people gathered around the bicycle that getting a clear shot was almost impossible, but I didn't want to drag it away from the appreciative audience.



The frame is fillet-brazed steel, with a carbon fork. The joints are so smooth, they look liquid.



The process of making frames with tubing and angles like these is completely alien to me, and I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that this was built by hand - especially since everything looks so flawless.



According to Megan, the frame was not difficult to build overall, except for the tricky seat stay attachment.



Not difficult! My hat's off to you, Megan.



Although Interbike was not about handbuilt bicycles, the ones on display undoubtedly stood out against the backdrop of mass produced wares, and I felt it only right to honor them. Handbuilt bicycles inform industry trends down the line, and the influence of custom randonneurs, mixtes, and other unique creations exhbited at NAHBS earlier could be readily observed in booth after booth at Interbike. Should we expect a line of "pencil bikes" from one of the big manufacturers in the near future? Time will tell.